Lausanne, Switzerland-based packaging developer Tetra Pak has announced several strategic investments designed to level up the recycling capacity for carton packages in the European Union.

The company says the move supports the goals of the proposed EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) by ensuring all packaging components are recycled and valuable raw materials are kept in circulation for longer, showcasing the pivotal role of recycling in the green transition of the food packaging sector.

In 2023, Tetra Pak invested nearly 40 million euros ($42.9 million) to accelerate beverage carton recycling worldwide, and plans to increase this even further in the coming years to achieve greater material circularity. The recent initiatives and investments are set to boost the EU’s ability to recycle beverage cartons, including the non-fiber protective layers of polyethylene (PE) and aluminum, known as “polyAl.”

Tetra Pak’s major 2023 investments include:

• A feasibility study in Sweden along with Axjo Group to build a new recycling line for polyAl with an annual recycling capacity of 10,000 tons.
• In Spain, Tetra Pak and Trans Sabater have co-invested over 2 million euros ($2.1 million) to increase polyAl recycling capacity from 3,000 tons to 10,000 tons per year.
• In Spain again, Tetra Pak and Alier aim to recycle over 15,000 tons of polyAl per year by 2025.
• In the Netherlands, Tetra Pak has invested 1 million euros ($1.1 million) in Recon Polymers’ polyAl recycling plant to increase the capacity to at least 8,000 tons per year.

“For us, this goes beyond industry investment. It’s part of the transformation towards a circular economy and an investment in the future of the planet,” Tetra Pak President of Sustainability Operations Markus Pfanner says. “These innovative collaborations, at the intersection of human ingenuity, technology, and finance, demonstrate the value of beverage cartons within sustainable food systems."

“Beverage cartons are recyclable. They are recycled wherever the necessary collection, sorting, and recycling infrastructure is in place, at scale, so, naturally, expanding this infrastructure is a priority for us. Projects such as these ensure that consumers can continue to safely access food, and that once they have done so, those cartons can be recycled, keeping quality resources in the loop and reducing the use of virgin content.”